Southern Dorchester bracing for additional flooding

Heading into Bishops Head in Dorchester County, you may encounter up to several inches of water on local roadways.  And officials in the county are worried that it may only get worse with Tropical Storm Florence heading up the east coast.

As Florence makes its way up the East Coast, residents in the Bishops Head area are concerned about the prospect of even more flooding than they’ve already seen.

Residents like Tiffany Tieber, who is expecting her entire yard and driveway to be submerged.

“Just with the storm surges that they’re predicting, and the rain that they’re predicting, it’s just, it’s gonna be worse… It’s been all the way up to our front step. It’s been to (my daughter’s) knees.”

Because most of the area is close to sea level, residents are taking precautions while there’s still time.

“We’ve basically gotten everything up off the floor of the house, the floor of our garages. Put our vehicles up as high as they can go, and our animals in,” said local resident Robby MacLauchlan.  “Just getting stuff in the house like water, things we can eat if say for whatever reason you can’t get out.”

Officials tell us the storm is expected to pass through western Maryland, but the pressure caused by Florence could trap the water in the bay.  With nowhere to go, it will be forced into the streets and front yards of places like Bishops Head, Hoopers Island, even areas of Cambridge.

“It seems to be moving at a slow pace and remaining at that pace. So that’ll just keep pressure on the mouth of the bay for that duration,” said Jeff Trice, the Public Information Officer for Dorchester County Emergency Operations Center.

But locals and officials are still hoping for the best.

“Hopefully it’ll stay further out in Pennsylvania, so the impact will be less. But we’re just tracking that and monitoring that everyday,” said Trice.

Officials and residents alike expect the flooding to continue to rise throughout the weekend with the worst coming Saturday and Sunday.

With all of the rain recently along with local flooding, officials want to warn residents about the possibility of fallen trees and power lines.  If you are out, be careful and pay attention to any traffic advisories.